Your game plan for releasing your inner champion in your business

By Dr. Jack Singer

Psychologically Speaking, with Dr. Jack Singer, LLC

It’s simple: Practice these three Cs of success each day, and you will bring out the true champion within.

Running a successful business requires the exact same skills from its managers and employees that professional sports teams require from
their coaches and athletes. Here are some tips from a professional sport psychologist and business consultant.

To stay at the top of your game requires the three Cs: confidence, concentration and control. All three of these key elements overlap and depend on the others for ultimate business success.

Confidence is the single most important variable in improving your performance, and it comes from positive self-talk. Recognize when you give yourself negative, self-defeating messages, such as thoughts that begin with “What if…,” “I hope I don’t...” or “I shouldn’t have…” I call this negative self-talk the internal critic. For so many of us, that critical internal voice dominates over the rational, positive, optimistic voice.

Concentration is directly affected by your self-talk. To run a championship-level business, you cannot be distracted by fears, worries or negative emotions, all of which incubate in negative self-talk. A simple formula for success is:

Performance = talent + motivation - distractions

Keep the distractions at a minimum and your performance will always reflect your talent. Can you guess what the number one distraction is? That’s right: negative self-talk.
Control the negative self-talk, and thus you control your destiny. So, how does one do that, you ask? Here is a simple, yet powerful, five-step routine for mental toughness. It only takes a few minutes to practice each day:

1. Wear a loosely fitting rubber band on your wrist. Every time you catch yourself beginning a negative, self-defeating thought (such as, “What if I fail at this endeavor?”), snap that rubber band, while telling yourself (with emphasis) to "stop this silly thinking.”

2. Take a deep, calming breath by breathing in to the count of four through your nose, hold it for four seconds and then a big exhalation from your mouth, to the count of seven.

3. Challenge the negative thought with questions like, “Do I really have any evidence that the thing I’m afraid will happen is actually going to happen, or am I simply anticipating the worst?” If you challenge those thoughts, you will realize that most of your fears
are just fabrications of the worst case scenario.

4. Give yourself an “identity statement,” which is directed at boosting your self-confidence. Continuously visualize yourself having accomplished your business dreams, seeing how wonderful you feel and how proud of yourself you are. When you do this consistently, you are well on your way to success. Look at your ultimate goals as if you have already accomplished them. The more frequently you visualize your success as if it has already happened and continually think about it in positive terms, the more quickly your subconscious mind will want to make it happen for you.